The Boston Red Sox scored five runs in the fifth inning en route to an 8-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night in Tampa.

Boston has now won eight straight games and improve to 65-49 on the season.

They maintain a four game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East.

Red Sox Cruise Past Rays

With the Red Sox up 1-0 in the fifth, Eduardo Nunez hit a line drive off Tampa Bay pitcher Jake Odorizzi foot to lead off the inning. Odorizzi stayed on the ground for a few seconds before leaving the game.

The Red Sox offense then went to work.

Mookie Betts hit a single to center to score Nunez to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead.

Andrew Benintendi would score on a passed ball to give Boston a 3-0 lead before Betts would score on Mitch Moreland groundout.

Any Leon then hit a two run single to left to score Xander Bogaerts and Brock Holt to give the Red Sox a 6-0 lead.

The Rays would get two runs back in the bottom of the 6th on two home runs off of Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello.

However, Boston would add two runs in the 8th to cruise to the 8-2 win.

Rick Porcello allowed two runs and four hits over six innings to pick up his 6th win of the season.

Red Sox vs Yankees

The Red Sox return to action on Friday, August 11 when they visit the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

The pitching matchup is Boston’s Eduardo Rodriguez against New York’s Jaime Garcia.

Two solo homers allowed by Porcello this inning give him 28 for season. A.L. leader is Seattle's Miranda (29)

Related Slideshow: The History of Baseball in Central Massachusetts

Baseball and Central Mass. go way back - to the 1860s. The local historical landmarks range from Mudville to Hotel Vernon to Fitton Field. A version of these highlights is posted on the site of the new, yet-to-be-formally-named Worcester Baseballteam of the three-year-old Futures Collegiate Baseball League.

Casey At The Bat

First Perfect Game

The first perfect game in the history of Major League Baseball was pitched in Worcester, on June 12, 1880, by J. Lee Richmond for the Worcester Worcesters – also known at various times as the Brown Stockings and the Ruby Legs - versus the Cleveland Blues at the Worcester Driving Park Grounds, located in the Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds near Elm Park. Worcester joined the National League in 1880, replacing the failed Syracuse Stars.

Wachusett Dirt Dawgs

The Wachusett Dirt Dawgs, who play at historic, and newly renovated, Doyle Field in Leominster, are a 2012 expansion franchise in the now-three-year-old Futures Collegiate Baseball League.The Dirt Dawgs’ 2013 season swung into action on June 5 with big expectations, but ended on August 8 with those hopes being dashed. They finished in the basement, with a record of 20-31 - 14 games behind first-place the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks (38-18). The team is owned by prominent Leominster businessman John Morrison, who also founded, owns and operates Fosta-Tek Optics in Leominster.